ABSTRACT

One of the greatest challenges in the field of software
engineering is to design and implement reusable,
adaptable and scalable software systems. Current
learning technology systems do not provide more of these features,
nor the necessary functionality to manage different kinds of
learning experiences. In this paper, we present a proposal for a
flexible infrastructure that enables the provision of
technological support for the realization of heterogeneous
learning experiences. We use the IMS Learning Design specification
to provide a common underlying framework, and support the
description of generic learning processes.

Keywords

1. INTRODUCTION

Currently, most learning systems and tools are designed to be used
as standalone, focused to solve particular problems and
situations. As consequence, the interoperability is poor between
systems that follow different kinds of learning approaches. This
is partly due to the weakness of their technological openness and
to their lack of clear standardized interfaces such as promoted by
some standardization bodies (see IEEE 1484 or IMS proposals).

The situation seems similar to the oposition existing between the
Computer Supported Co-operative Work (CSCW) approach versus
the Workflow Management approach for supporting the
collective human activities inside the organizations. The
reconciliation of these two approaches is actually a hot issue in
the CSCW and Workflow research domains [3].

We mainly focus our attention on the general infrastructure
providing a general framework for the design of future learning
systems. The purpose of our work is to provide a general
infrastructure that enables the utilization of Information
and Communication Technologies (ICT) to support general learning
activities and processes, independently of the pedagogical
approach.

2. OUR APPROACH

Our general assumption is that we need a common theoretical
framework for designing learning systems so different pedagodical
approaches could be integrated. Through consistent use of this
model, the focus will be placed in learning itself, not in the
mechanisms used to support or enable it. This framework will be
used to describe, or design, the learning processes and
activities that have to be carried out during learning sessions
(for example: a course) in a formal way.

The second part of the picture constitutes our contribution. We
provide the software infrastructure devoted to support and enable
the learning experiences according to formal learning designs.

2.1 IMS Learning Design

The common framework is provided by the IMS Learning Design
[1] meta-language. This model supports the
description of any design of a teaching-learning process in a
formal way. The core concept of the IMS Learning Design
specification is that, regardless of pedagogical approach, a
person gets a role in the teaching-learning process
(typically a learner or a staff role), and works towards certain
outcomes by performing more or less structured learning
and/or support activities within an environment. The
environment consists of the appropriate learning objects
and services to be used during the performance of the
activities.

The learning designs which can be described by this language might
involve a single user or multiple users; the learning and
instructional designers and providers might take a behaviorist,
cognitivist, constructivist or some other approach; they might
require learners to work separately or collaboratively, but these
can all be captured in terms of a Method that governs the
running of the Learning Design.

This language does not prescribe the delivery media. The same
learning design could be performed in different ways. For example,
a collaborative learning activity may be performed in a
traditional classroom, or at distance through the web using
appropriate communication or collaboration tools. In this way we
separate the educational and technical features.

2.2 The Software Infraestructure

A infrastructure supporting learning designs has to address two
main issues: (i) the execution of learning designs that feature
their own dynamics, and (ii) the integration of selected
heterogeneous resources and services to provide the prescribed
environments.

We use a workflow management technology approach [4]
to support the execution of learning designs. A learning design is
basically a workflow definition, that is, a set of activities to
be executed in some order, involving multiple collaborating
entities in a distributed environment to accomplish a given task.
In this way, workflow systems manage many of the issues involved
in our problem.

But current workflow technology does not provide the necessary
functionality to manage our learning designs in a general way. In
each course, activities to be attained by a learner will depend on
the learning design, the resources availability to provide the
environment, and the process state. But, a learner will be usually
enrolled in several courses, and therefore dependencies among them
could be considered and managed. Moreover, different learners may
be enrolled in different courses, with their corresponding
constrains and dependencies. The utilization of a centralized
workflow engine would be impractical.

In our propose, c.f. figure 1, each course is controlled by a
particular workflow management system. The dependencies between
different courses will be managed by appropriate personal agents,
that will offer a central vision of the different courses in which
a learner is enrolled. The personal agent provides functionalities
like : (i) calendars, enabling the learner to make
appointments; (ii) pending activities that require urgent
realization; and (iii) messages of the system or other
users. Each course will propose the realization of a certain
activity to the learner according to the state and the
availability of resources and participants.

Figure 1: A big picture of the infraestructure.

We try to offer a general solution supporting the management of
learning designs following different kinds of approaches. The
learning approaches supported by a learning system would depend
finally on the resources and services available. In order to
provide an open and flexible solution, the infrastructure enables
the introduction of new resources and services. A resource is
modeled as an object including attributes such as name, type,
capabilities and status. The status consists of two attributes:
state and load. The state tells whether the resource is available.
The load gives hint of possible waiting time needed to perform the
assigned activities.

In this way we have a typical resource management problem
[2], where resources, but also learners,
act as shared resources that are required for the realization of
the different activities by the workflow engines that control the
different courses. The consideration of learners as shared
resources is the main difference between our problem and the
general workflow problem of business processes.

3. WEB-BASED INTERACTION

Users interact with the system via a web-based user interface. The
activities applicable for the specific roles are presented based
on their structure or availability. When she/he chooses a certain
activity the system will provide access to the required resources
and services, configuring them accordingly to the specifications
of the learning design. It will also provide the required contact
with the other persons involved in the same activity if they are
connected. From here the users will start their personalized learning path,
performing the selected activities. The interaction is captured by
the system and the personal dossier updated.

We are considering the introduction of our infrastructure in a
mobile environment. In this way we create a new feature for a
resource: location. The location indicates where the resource is
located. In order to propose the realization of activities to an
actor her/his location is obtained.

4. CONCLUSIONS

Our solution is based in two key technologies. On the one side,
workflow management technology support the execution of single
courses. On the other side, resource management technology
facilitates the coordination among different courses. The
combination of these two technologies supports the activities of
users involved in different courses in a practical way. The use of
a centralized workflow engine would be impractical from a
scalability standpoint.

The utilization of the IMS Learning Design specification
enables pedagogical diversity to be supported through the
implementation of a single engine, rather than either having to
implement multiple engines for each pedagogical approach. In this
way, a system that can process IMS learning designs may be used to
provide any kind of technological support.

We consider our infrastructure as an academic center in
conventional learning. Teachers plan their lectures, they
prescribe the number of theoretical and practical sessions, a
calendar of examinations, material requirements, etc., and the
center has to organize the timetables, prepare the classes,
provide the appropriate lab equipment, etc. The academic center
has to provide and manage the resources required in the teacher
learning design. Note that with our solution we can manage both
physical and software resources, therefore the infrastructure also
supports mixed mode delivery (blended learning), enabling
traditional approaches such as face-to-face teaching, the use of
books and journals, lab work and field trips to be also specified
as learning activities and combined with ICT supported learning.

K. Schmidt and C. Simone. Mind the gap! Towards a unified view of CSCW. In The Fourth International Conference on the Design of Cooperative Systems (COOP'2000), Sophia Antipolis, France, 23-26 May 2000. INRIA.